Editing Howard Hughes (section)

=== Business with David Charnay ===

Hughes made numerous business partnerships through his friend, the industrialist and producer David Charnay,<ref name="His Life and Madness">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IS7Cq3Ypj8kC |author=Donald L. Barlett |author2=James B. Steele |title= Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness |publisher=W.W. Norton Company |year=2004 |pages=390, 495, 614 |isbn= 0393326020}}</ref><ref name="Film Noir FAQ">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UGBfAgAAQBAJ |author=David J. Hogan |title= Film Noir FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Hollywood's Golden Age of Dames, Detectives, and Danger |publisher=Applause theater and cinema |year=2013|isbn= 978-1480343054}}</ref> beginning with their work on the film ''[[The Conqueror (1956 film)|The Conqueror]] (1956)''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049092/ | title=The Conqueror | work=[[IMDb]] | date=March 28, 1956 | access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia of Television">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EccHRAAACAAJ |author=Horace Newcomb |title= Encyclopedia of Television |publisher=Routledge |year=2014|page=1801 |isbn= 978-1579583941}}</ref> Though the film made money at the box office, its themes, dialogue, and casting were ridiculed. It was shot in [[St. George, Utah]], which had been badly affected by the testing of more than 100 nuclear bombs. Many of the cast and crew were later diagnosed with cancer, leading it to be called an "RKO Radioactive Picture". Hughes eventually bought every copy of the film he could, and is reported to have watched the film at home every night in the years before he died.<ref name="Carroll 2015 t033">{{cite news| last=Carroll | first=Rory | title=Hollywood and the downwinders still grapple with nuclear fallout | website=the Guardian | date=June 6, 2015 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/06/downwinders-nuclear-fallout-hollywood-john-wayne | access-date=April 17, 2024}}</ref>

Charnay later bought [[Four Star Television|Four Star]], the film and television production company that produced ''The Conqueror.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2002/scene/people-news/david-charnay-1117873977/|title=David Charnay Former Four Star chief|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=October 7, 2002|access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/06/downwinders-nuclear-fallout-hollywood-john-wayne|title=Hollywood and the downwinders still grapple with nuclear fallout|work=[[TheGuardian.com|The Guardian]]|date=June 6, 2015|access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref>

Hughes and Charnay's most published dealings were with a contested AirWest [[leveraged buyout]]. Charnay led the buyout group that involved Howard Hughes and their partners acquiring Air West. Hughes, Charnay, as well as three others, were indicted.<ref name=char9/><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/30/archives/jury-refuses-to-vote-indictment-that-omits-hughes-accused-of.html | title=Jury Refuses to Vote Indictment That Omits Hughes |work=[[The New York Times|New York Times]] | date=July 30, 1974 | access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/Security-CIA/CIA%201706.pdf | title=3 Hughes Associates Deny Guilt In AirWest Case |work=[[The New York Times|Hood College's Harold Weisberg Archive, Digital Collection]] | date=January 14, 1977 | access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/H%20Disk/Hughes%20Howard/Item%20001.pdf |title=Indicting Hughes |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Hood College's Harold Weisberg Archive, Digital Collection]] |date=January 7, 1974 |access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref> The indictment, made by U.S. Attorney DeVoe Heaton, accused the group of conspiring to drive down the stock price of Air West in order to pressure company directors to sell to Hughes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dailyiowan.lib.uiowa.edu/DI/1974/di1974-01-31.pdf |title=Hughes Fraud Charges Dropped |work=[[The Daily Iowan]] |date=January 31, 1974 |access-date=January 28, 2017}}</ref><ref name=char9>{{cite court|url=http://openjurist.org/537/f2d/341/united-states-v-b-charnay |litigants=United States v. David B. Charnay|date=May 7, 1976 |reporter=F2d |vol=537 |opinion=341 |access-date=December 24, 2021 |court=9th Cir.}}</ref> The charges were dismissed after a judge had determined that the indictment had failed to allege an illegal action on the part of Hughes, Charnay, and all the other accused in the indictment. Thompson, the federal judge that made the decision to dismiss the charges, called the indictment one of the worst claims that he had ever seen. The charges were filed a second time by U.S. Attorney DeVoe Heaton's assistant, Dean Vernon. The Federal Judge ruled on November 13, 1974, and elaborated to say that the case suggested a "reprehensible misuse of the power of great wealth," but in his judicial opinion, "no crime had been committed."<ref name="HughesWorld">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=di04thgoPGMC |author=Arelo C. Sederberg |title=Hughesworld: The Strange Life and Death of an American Legend |publisher=iUniverse |year=2013|isbn= 978-1475969221}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1974/01/31/page/5/article/hughes-fraud-indictment-dropped |title=Hughes Fraud Indictment Dropped |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=January 31, 1974 |access-date=January 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/14/archives/highes-3-others-cleared-by-judge-in-air-west-case.html |title=Hughes 3 Others by Judge In Air West Case |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 14, 1974 |access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref> The aftermath of the Air West deal was later settled with the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission|SEC]] by paying former stockholders for alleged losses from the sale of their investment in Air West stock.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/01/20/hughes-estate-agrees-to-pay-airlines-stockholders-30-million/30f2a5b9-63e1-4f3d-9b08-2c7eaa80f357/ | title=Hughes Estate Agrees to Pay Airline's Stockholders $30 Million | newspaper=Washington Post | date=January 20, 1979 | access-date=January 28, 2017}}</ref> As noted above, Air West was subsequently renamed [[Hughes Airwest]]. During a long pause between the years of the dismissed charges against Hughes, Charnay, and their partners, Howard Hughes died mid-flight while on the way to Houston from Acapulco. No further attempts were made to file any indictments after Hughes died.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://people.com/archive/howard-hughes-doctor-gives-a-chilling-description-of-his-strange-patients-final-hours-vol-12-no-5/

 | title=Howard Hughes' Doctor Gives a Chilling Description of His Strange Patient's Final Hours | work=[[People (magazine)|People]] | date=July 30, 1979 | access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/howard-hughes-dies | title=This Day In History Howard Hughes Dies | work=[[People (magazine)|People]] | date=April 5, 1976 | access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://abc13.com/news/the-day-howard-hughes-died/1279496/ | title=Houston's last tycoon. ABC13 Coverage of the death of Howard Hughes (archived)| work=[[KTRK-TV|Houston's ABC13]] | date=July 3, 2017 | access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref>